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Gen V (2023)
Really enjoyable tv
Looking at the reviews here, it looks like this show has suffered from die hard fans of The Boys rating it ridiculously low from classic spin-off rage. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but giving this a 1 is ridiculous
I went into this with middling expectations and was really impressed. The acting is genuinely very good, with lots of nuanced performances - particularly from Maddie Phillips, Lizzie Broadway, Chance Perdomo and Thor London. The latter here plays probably the most creative character (I won't spoil) and she nails it. This, combined with subtly smart writing, allows it to play with the 'teen college' tropes without falling victim to them.
The plot is fairly standard, but its executed well and is pretty gripping throughout
Fundamentally, it's a good story that stays fairly local. No multiverses, a complex central message and plenty of reference to the wider Boys universe without leaning on it made this a great watch.
Daredevil (2015)
Really, really average
If the tone of this is overly critical, it's only because everyone else seems to be raving about this series. I honestly can't believe the hype it's got - it is distinctly average.
I'll admit I don't know the comics back to front - I'm coming at this purely as a viewer rather than a particular Daredevil fan.
The whole show seems confused as to what it wants to be - it's got intense violence and dark moments, conveying desires to be seen in a Nolan-esque manner, yet there are so many lazy clichés and weak lines that it never breaks from seeming cartoonish. I'm happy with either - I don't mind cheesy - but one has to be chosen.
There were cool moments, some nice set pieces, and the acting was OK. Matt Murdoch, when in that form, is unbelievably boring - he speaks like a video game character clumsily representing moral fortitude. 'Foggy' is your ten a penny comic relief figure - a great role if done well, but this was, again, average. Ben Urich might have been the single dullest character in anything I've ever watched, with an utterly pointless storyline.
Fisk was the worst though. Almost nothing is explained in terms of how he got to the top - there's no particular cunning or charisma - he's just good at punching stuff really hard and looking a bit unstable; he earns no gravitas at any point. There was no menace to him - he comes off more like a really strong autistic kid than genius level crime lord. He has all the composure of a pigeon trapped in a train carriage. Saying 'This City...' quietly through gritted teeth is not deep and thought provoking.
The music was particularly bad - the producers seemed happy to crowbar any over-the-top classical music in to try and coat things in a bit of drama. Nessun Dorma montage? Come on, try a little harder.
I could forgive all of this though, if it hadn't been so...dull. There's a lame attempt to create some sort of 'All The President's Men' style chase that just drags the whole show into a black hole of people handing other people documents. I almost doubt my credential to write this review as I was so bored by anything going on at the Law firm or Newsroom that I basically turned my brain off.
I will say that the fighting was very good - the choreography was incredible. It's not really something that swings me either way, but I did appreciate the effort that went into that.
Overall though, shocked that its being lauded - if the Joker gave us a better class of criminal, we need a better class of hero.
I've leave it on that pseudo-snappy ending.
Indian Summers (2015)
Fantastic Television
I went into Indian Summers out of curiosity but, with the thought that, realistically it wasn't something I'd be too into. The whole kind of 'period drama with a twist' has never worked for me. However, I quickly had a change of opinion - I think this might be the best show I've seen this year.
Everything that you would expect to be good is - the acting is superb from pretty much the whole cast - I can't think of anyone who lets it down. The story is complex, with various characters lives interweaving against the backdrop of crumbling colonial India, with endless contrasts of high society and vicious oppression being beautifully balanced to seem both natural and revealing.
The thing that stood out to me though, and it is certainly something that is harder to pinpoint, was the vibrant nature of the whole show. Despite much of the 'action' coming from character tensions rather than events, the eclectic range of character backgrounds, combined with the fierce political and cultural battles being fought brought the show to life in a way I haven't seen for some time. A beautiful colour palette with some stunning camera work makes this an absolute pleasure to watch.
I don't know how season 2 will live up to this standard, but I owe the whole team my confidence after such a brilliant show.
Beaver Falls (2011)
Largely unnoticed, but I don't think fairly.
I think a lot of people wrote this off straight away from the trailer on E4 - I was nearly one of them. It looked like it was going to be a pretty empty drama - British guys going after hot girls; kind of 90210 with a couple of English guys and a Scot. I gave it a go though and stuck with it through the whole series and I'm glad I did. The dynamic between the core three works very nicely and it is fun to watch. There is a lot more humour than I thought and it is so much the better for it. It actually seems to get a little too caught up in its own plot sometimes - the best bits are when the characters are all chatting to each other. Barry stands out particularly as a likable character as the joker of the group. John Dagleish plays him extremely well; it doesn't ever feel like he is acting and he becomes very identifiable with as a result.
Most of the cast are very good - a few characters are a little too stereotypical and thus dull, but overall the show does very well to be genuinely entertaining with enough drama to keep the show moving but enough comedy to make it very fun to watch. I'd say the first episode was the weakest, too, with a little too much emphasis on toilet humour, but after that its far more about the group dynamic and improves from there.
True Blood (2008)
I wish there were more shows like this.
This review is based purely on the show, not the books, as I have not read them. For me, True Blood proves that huge entertainment factor and intelligence and depth are not mutually exclusive in the television industry. It has been consistently fantastic for the 4 seasons I have been watching it, but my strong praise can only go so far. Those who have watched it will have formed their own opinions all ready, although a strong IMDb score seems to show that most are with me here. Those who have not and are thinking about doing so, here are some reasons why I would highly, highly recommend it:
The Setting: True Blood is all set in the deep south of America, which, in my opinion, is a stroke of genius. The racial allegory is obvious, but it is not overly focused upon; instead the small town vibe of "Bon Temps" serves perfectly as a friendly town where we meet the locals on the surface, but surrounded by the mystique so often associated with the swampland of the area.
The Score: The score keeps to the southern vibe nicely, absorbing us further into the scene. I watch this sitting in London, yet this show effortlessly reels me in almost from the title sequence (which is one of the best around).
The Characters: True Blood deals with, primarily, vampires. This may be initially off putting. It is a genre done to death lately and the huge success of Twilight has made it quite unavoidable. However, a large section of the cast are not vampires, and all of the main players are well developed into characters that we don't just care about as a viewer, but we really do like. As for the vampires themselves, they are, in my opinion, an antidote for the often numb versions of supernatural beings we are offered in the cinematic world. These vampires are individuals and many are brutal killers. They are imposing figures that are majestic, horrific and awe inspiring.
The Acting: I would say it is almost faultless, with many fantastic turns. Its difficult to select any stand out performances as they are all so memorable. The casting for this was clearly very specific and rigorous.
The Script: The writing in the show is fast paced and very detailed, making sure that all the characters are always moving forward in the story arc. It is genuinely funny in many parts as there are several characters with a comic side to them. A good script is so essential and so often overlooked, but it is clearly present here.
Effects: Whilst not overused, True Blood has its fair share of powers and its fair share of blood and violence, all of which is carried out convincingly. If you are not a fan of quite visceral TV in terms of sex, drugs and violence, then maybe I would advise avoiding this. However, it is rarely gratuitous and all serves to make the scenario as realistic as possible.
It's hard to review 4 seasons in one entry, so all I can really end with is I really hope you watch it. I would also say it improves as it goes, so stick with it. I'm starting to sound like a True Blood PR man, so I'll leave it at that.
Moon (2009)
Utterly encapsulating
For those who haven't seen Moon, I would heavily advise watching it without any distractions to really get the most out of it. In my opinion, the film's two strongest qualities are its beauty and its thought provoking nature - two elements of a film that tend to require full attention to appreciate.
The film is very minimalistic in both setting and characters, with Sam Rockwell providing a fantastic turn as Sam Bell, but the ideas it deals with can be placed in no such category. Identity and what it is to be human are both issues dealt with, as well as isolation, loss and sacrifice. Yet any who have seen this film would almost certainly argue that it is in no way convoluted or overcrowded, crediting the skill of Duncan Jones' directing and Nathan Parker's writing.
The visuals of this film are stunning. Whether in the base itself, the appearance of GERTY (beautifully characterised by Kevin Spacey, who personifies the robot to the point of making us sympathise with it), or the moon itself, the shots were hugely effective. Some of the moon shots especially are incredibly beautiful and quite awe inspiring. The score compliments the cinematography beautifully, with Clint Mansell's work being reminiscent of his earlier score for Requiem for a Dream, one of the most famous modern pieces of film music.
If you're primarily into Transformers and Need for Speed, this is probably one to miss (not meant derogatorily, but it is not an action junkie's film.) Otherwise, I highly, highly recommend this.
The Beach (2000)
Good, but more could have been done with it.
The first half an hour of 'The Beach' gave the impression that it was a film about extremes. Whether it's the completely foreign world of horrible hotel rooms and snake blood DiCaprio's 'Richard' finds himself in, or the suicidal madness of Carlyle's 'Daffy', or the pursuit of absolute perfection in the beach itself, all these things seemed to be presenting the film as either highly dramatic or deeply philosophical. With such a set up, I personally hoped for this film to stay with me for a while for one of these reasons. However, neither one seemed to materialise, or at least not strongly. Screenings to background tourists of 'Apocalypse Now' at the beginning of the film resonates with the theme of the madness of solitude, but Richard's madness seems all too sudden to be convincing. Dramatically, whilst the plot moved along at a reasonable pace, the ending seemed weak, with the release of the island people back to their own lives being fairly anti-climactic. Maybe it was some sort of metaphor how paradise will always let you down, but I was fairly underwhelmed.
The acting was strong throughout, but the characters were fairly two dimensional except for the core three, which isn't ideal when the story is focused on a small community and the tensions within it. I also found that the soundtrack ruined parts of it for me. Whilst I love Moby's 'Porcelain' as a song, I felt it completely removed the exotic beauty of the moment they see the beach. I would have much rather had something more anonymous playing. That's fairly trivial, but was quite a poignant let down for me.
Whilst this seems heavily critical, I'm only writing the review in such a manner because I am generally a big fan of Boyle's, and thus rate him highly, so looked for a lot in this film. It is still clever, thought provoking and the cinematography is beautiful. Richard is, on the most part, well crafted and consistent, and moments of this film really did stay with me afterwards.
28 Days Later... (2002)
Whilst there are minor weaknesses, a lot of this film is stunning
"Slumdog Millionaire" is, fairly uncontroversially, Danny Boyle's most well received film - but, whilst I did enjoy that film, I felt that this had a lot more in common with "Sunshine", another of Boyle's films, and was all the better for it. Both centre around a focal group of people who are hugely isolated and are having to deal with trauma and death, but also play with both philosophy and art. Regarding the former of these two, the idea of what life is actually worth living for is a prevalent theme and the ideas of utilitarianism, and the savagery of the actual humans (not the zombies) are also called into question and help make this film more than just a drama/horror. There are times when one can even question whether the premise of the film is exploring the idea of isolation, with the zombie element simply being a means to allow this (although I think believing the zombies to be an afterthought to the philosophy would be a little naive on my part).
The latter of the similarities is the artistic element to the film. Thrilling action camera shots and the use of Point Of View camera work make the film highly engaging, but are juxtaposed beautifully by the shots of the emptiness what was once the bustling city of London, with the lone figure of Cillian Murphy (who is very compelling as Jim and is yet another similarity between Sunshine and 28) emphasising the epic nature of the images. Musically, John Murphy (I think my final similarity to Sunshine) provides a beautiful score ("In the house, in a heartbeat" being particularly powerful).
I thought some of the acting was a little weak (namely Megan Burns' 'Hannah', but also some of the army 'banter' was pretty unconvincing - maybe due to poor writing), and I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the ending, but I still highly recommend this film (and Sunshine!) to those who were wary of it simply being a zombie flick; it really is a lot more.
Band of Brothers (2001)
Absolutely amazing
This is, without a doubt, one of the best series that I have ever seen, and for so many reasons. Cinematographic-ally, the series is renowned for its accuracy in recreating the atmosphere of a true WW2 battlefield, and due to this, the effect on screen is absolutely staggering at times. Fast paced gun fights, heavy mortar fire and beautiful scenery all feature and combine to create an incredible visual experience. It really does appear that no expense was spared (and judging by the $120,000,000 spent on it, it seems unlikely that any was). The plot is gripping, entertaining and harrowing at times, and the fact that it is true makes it all the more powerful. However, I found that the strongest thing about the series for me was the characters. Whilst initially proving difficult to keep up with and follow, as the series develops, the audience get to know the individual characters and how they fitted into the 506th, both in rank and in personality. The acting is phenomenal; not for a moment did I ever doubt a performance.
If you haven't seen Band of Brothers, I recommend it highly - and not just to those who like war films, because it is so much more than that.
A History of Violence (2005)
Good, but nothing particularly special
*Spoilers* A History of Violence, for me, was a film that was interesting in terms of the themes it covers (redemption, identity etc), but was nowhere near developed enough to be classed as the masterpiece some call it. Running for only 96 minutes, i felt that, upon discovering that Tom Stall was, indeed, Joey Cusack (which was fairly evident, but i won't go into that), the portrayal we were given of Joey as a past character was fairly weak and solely violence orientated, getting to the point where he seemed more like a fatal subconscious from a Jet Li film than a real person. References to Joey's history with Fogarty and to his time in the desert promise an interesting exploration into the character, yet none of this surfaces. Whether this is meant to be subtle, i do not know, but to me it simply came across as slightly empty.
As for the plot of the film, there were several things that i though didn't really fit. Firstly, the whole section with Tom's son, Jack, seemed utterly pointless, with the whole relationship between him and the bully being entirely cartoonish - and the addition of the girl Jack's friends with seemingly being entirely devoid of a point. It seems like this whole chapter was put in in order to lead up to Jack and Tom's 'showdown' or to prove that somehow, genetically the 'Cusack' family were born to fight... Secondly, why did Tom run home instead of call Sam or borrow a colleague's car? Also, Tom was ex mafia, not ex ninja, so why can he fight ten times better than any other member of the mafia? Why does no one shoot him A) At his house when he's breaking the henchman's nose B) At Richie's when he's winning against the guy trying to strangle him? Overall entertaining, with good performances all round, but numerous significant flaws and a far too shorter run time detract from the film quite heavily.